My first needlepoint… again

Sometime in the 70s I completed a Jiffy Needlepoint Kit with bubble letters in rainbow colors.

I am not sure what happened to it. However, there was a "sister" kit with the bubble letter words "I LOVE YOU" my mother stitched and made into a pillow for me. 

Gasp! On last week ebay I saw the kit… I bid… I won…




I now stitch again. It's like a visit from an old friend!

It is my Mother's Needlepoint!

Nothing evokes memories of my childhood than my mother's needlepoint! Here are some examples of her work!

    Navy Blue Bargello with Monogram

   Ruby Foot Stool Top

   Golden Four Way Bargello Accent Pillow

   Blue Green Four Way Bargello Accent Pillow

Where to start needlepoint?

I wonder how many times a person, new to needlepoint, walked into a needlepoint store, got overwhelmed, and fled in sheer terror from the cost and number of decisions?

Most Needlepoint stores I've been to are really made for an experienced stitcher to navigate. I suspect those are the people who keep the shops in business. But if I were going help someone start to stitch, I would suggest a few alternate routes before landing in the needlepoint shop. We want you to love that visit, spent hours there dreaming of possibilities - not being overwhelmed!

Other options:

1. Buy a child's needlepoint kit. Pretend it is for (insert name of your young relative). Then you can ask questions without having to tell the sales associate it is for you!

 The canvas will have larger holes, larger needles and larger thread. Most of learning how to do fiber arts is "learning to see" what looks right and what looks wrong. The larger canvas and thread make it easier to "see".

(Sample - Alice Peterson's Children 2013 - Plaid Triceratops)

2. Buy an Alice Peterson Stitch & Zip® case.

The projects are small, easy to carry, and don't require sewing afterwards. They are great on trips and in the summer. They come with all the supplies you need except a pair of scissors. The pictures on the front of the kits lets you see what it is supposed to look like.

When you are done stitching you just zip it up and the project is done!

(Sample: Eye-Popping Poppies Scissors Case)




3. Try a  Child sized Quickpoint Pillow Top Kits

10x10 Design
Mesh is 4.5 (4.5 stitches per inch)
Acrylic Yarn

Sample (The Stitchery - Penguin Pillow Top)




4. Use Needlepoint Videos… you can google or try these:

Needlepoint Now! - Video Instruction


5. Go to American Needlepoint Guild's website for kids!












6. Buy (or borrow) TNNA's booklet "How to Needlepoint"









How did you learn to Needlepoint?

My Mother's U.F.O.s (Unfinished Objects)

In addition to her beautiful work (more in future posts) mom also had a few UFOs that have made their way to me... And they are stalking me to finish them!

1. The "S"

2. The Alphabet

3. Doggie brick cover...

4. The house I grew up in!

I have finished the "S" stitching but not into a pillow yet. I'm thinking the doggie brick cover will be next!

They call it a comeback…Needlepoint style.

I nearly fell off the bed when I saw the big, splashy, upfront,  two-page advertisement titled:

DISCOVER 

-- THE ART OF -- 

STITCHING

from Elizabeth Bradley's English Tapestry Kits in the January 2014 issue of Martha Stewart's Living Magazine.                Vicki Callaway, Director of Marketing for Elizabeth Bradley Designs explained, "We are not yet sure if it was the high quality and beautiful designs of our needlepoint kits that are driving our growth, or if it is simply that the remarkable recent resurgence of the art and pastime of needlepoint itself." 

It was a call to arms, a signal and a sign. 

The ad was not tucked into the back pages of the magazine. No, it was bold and loud, placed in the front section of  expensive advertisements.  

To be honest, this was not my first clue that Needlepoint may be making a comeback. 

There were a few other clues:


- Jonathan Adler's pillows featured in home style magazines (mod love throw pillow $175)

- Purl Soho's Website with a Needlepoint Section selling Charley Harper's Needlepoint Canvases such as "Love on a Richter Scale ($135 for the canvas)

and...

- The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) adding a specific market research report called The State of Needlepoint 2013 .

"What? Is it possible? Has it finally happened?", I thought to myself. "Has there has been enough activity in this industry to warrant the investment in a separate market research report?" Dare I hope? Is it a sign? The report says the estimated size of the needlepoint markets $63 million compared to the $377 million for yarn! 



But it's not about the money…


Needlepoint was my first love. 

Needlepoint makes me nostalgic and sentimental for my childhood and especially my mother. As a young child in the seventies, I grew up when Needlepoint was in it's heydays. (More on that in later posts.) My mother, grandmother, aunt and, even my grandfather, did needlepoint. (More on him too in later posts.) My mother's friend owned Valley Handcrafters in Avon, CT and I remember visiting the store with her and getting to explore the treasures while she discussed getting a piece of work finished. I can't remember my Sunday School classes, but I still remember visiting her needlepoint store! 

I've often lamented that Needlepoint has been frequently associated only with wealth. To be fair, hand painted canvases are expensive and the few primary needlepoint stores are often located in communities that have populations able to afford the craft and the costly finishing. I've balked at the price tags on beautiful, but small canvases. I know that price does not often include the cost of materials and most importantly finishing or framing. 


I have come to appreciate that the crafts people who paint those canvases and finish the work deserve the price. 



But there are other more affordable paths to enjoy beautiful needlepoint through thrift stores, estate sales, eBay, Etsy, stitch and zip kits, or learning to design, paint or finish your own work. 


It is not any harder than knitting, blocking, seaming, finishing… all things many knitters do for themselves. 


Needlepoint, like other repetitive needlework, can soothe the soul, spark creativity, and enhance relationships through personalized gifts or time spent stitching together. 

Let's call this a comeback and embrace both the expensive, and the affordable, needlepoint practices.  

2014.01.8 Next Post: My Mother's Needlepoint U.F.O.s  (Un-Finished Objects)